USPTO Patents Application 10037067

Jan 17 06 10: 16p John DeRngelis 321 724 8972 p.G

RRMARKS

Reconsideration of this appKcation under the provisions of Section 116 is
respectfuBy requested. By this proposed amendment, it is proposed to amend certain claims
as set forth above to overcome the Examiner's rejections and more concisely claim and
describe the present invention. Claims 1-15 remain in the application for reconsideration by
the Examiner. The Examiner's allowance of all pending claims is earnestly solicited.

Claims 1-15 stand rejected under Section 103(a) as unpatentable over Bonomi
(6^19,352) in view of Knuth, **The Art of Computing 2^ Edition."

To further distinguish the invention over the art of record, the Applicants have
revised the first paragraph of independent claim 1 to, "forming a physical address queue
comprising a circularly linked list further comprising a plurality of destination node entries
each node entry having an associated address for recei\'ing multicast data.'' Support for this
change can be fotmd in the application in die paragraph beginning at line 1 of page 7.

Bonotni discloses a technique for saving memory space (for example, sec column 6,
lines 1-5) by maintaining "only one copy of each multicast cell,'' instead of copying a
multicast cell several times for each output branch, A Bonomi cell comprises multicast data.
His linked Hst indicates whedier a particular data ceU is to be transmitted to a particular
output branch. That is, each cell is stored in only one physical queue and die cells arc
retrieved for transmission to an output branch as determined by a logical output branch
queue.

The logical output branch queue comprises the head pointers HPl and HP 2 (each
representing an output branch ot cell destination) in Figure 5. Reference characters 510 and
520 each identify a physical queue, wherein contents of queue locations 510A-510L link or
point to another location witiiin the queue 510, and contents of the corresponding location
520A-520L indicate a memory location where a multicast data cell is stored. The head
pointer HPl, representing an output branch or cell destination, traverses the memory
locations 510A-510L according to the linking information stored at each location 510A-
510I-. As can be seen in Figure 5, the location 510A links to location 510C, which links to
510D, etc.

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Jan 17 06 10: IGp John DeRngelis

321 724 8972

When the head pointer reaches a location 510A-510L in the linking queue 510, the
corresponding storage location 520A-520L identifies the memory location of the data cell
for sending to location address HPl. Contents of the corresponding Location in a mask
530A-530L indicate whether the stored cell is to be transmitted to HPl, that is, if it has not
been pre%dously sent to ou^ut branch HPl.

For example, when the output branch pointer HPl points to queue location 510A,
the data cell stored at a location indicated by the contents of 520A is sent to the output
branch indicated by HPl if contents of the mask location 530A indicate that the data cell is
yet to be sent to output branch HPl. Thus the contents of the locations 530A-530L serve a
control function to indicate those cells that are to be sent to a specific output branch. Sec
Bonomi's discussion of the elements of Figure 5 set fordi beginning in column 12, line 64.

Note that at column 13, line 26 Bonomi refers to the logical queue defined by the
head pointers HPl and HP2. Bonomi fiarther discloses a "separate [logical] queue for each
branch [output FIPl or PIP2] of the multicast connection so that each branch can be served
according to the specific service parameters it is set up with." See column 3, lines 53-56.

Knuth adds the concept of a circularly linked list to Bonomi, if the combination is in
accordance with the rules for reference combinations.

In contrast to Bonomi's logical queue, the Applicants claim "a physical address
queue comprising a drcularly linked list fiirther comprising a plurality of destination node
entries each node entry having an associated address for receiving mxilticast data." Bonomi
does not disclose a physical address. Instead, his receiving addresses for the multicast data
are determined by the indexing head pointers, which represent a logical queue.

Note further that Bonomi's physical queue 510 is merely a list of linking information
for indicating the next entry for the head pointer. His physical queue 520 stores memory
locations for the data cells to be transmitted, and his physical queue 530 operates as a mask
or control function for indicating whether a data ceE is to be sent to the location indicated
by the indexing head pointer. Since die AppHcants now claim "a physical address queue
comprising a circularly linked list fiirther comprising a plurality of destination node entries
each node entry having an associated address for receiving multicast data** and such
structural elements are absent from Bonomi, amended claim 1 is believed to be allowable
over Bonomi.

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*' Jan 17 OB 10: 16p John Deflngelis

321 724 8372

Each one of the dq)cndent claims 2-13 further distinguishes the invention as each
defines a novel combination of additional features. It is therefore respectfully submitted that
dependent claims 2-13 depending ficom amended claim 1 are allowable over the cited art.

As can be seen firom the marked-up version above, rejected independent daim 14
has been amended in a manner similar to the amendment to claim 1 to further distinguish it
&om the art of record TTius the remarks above supporting the Applicant's contention that
claim 1 is patentably distinct jfcom die combination of Bonomi and Knuth abo apply to the
Applicant's contention that claim 14 is patentably distinct &om the dted art.

Independent claim 15 has been revised as set forth above and is believed to be
allowable over the cited art for the same reasons that amended claims 1 and 14 are believed
to be allowable over the cited art.

Since it is believed that the foregoing amendments overcome the rejection of claims
1-15 under Section 103, the entry of this amendment under Section 103 is deemed
appropriate.

If a telephone conference will assist in danfying or expediting this Proposed
Amendment under Section 116, the Examiner is invited to contact tie undersigned directly
at the telephone number below. The undersigned proposes to tdephone Examiner
Neurauter to discuss the merits of the proposed amendments prior to issuance of the
Examiner's response.

r\

V R^pectfyiiJv subbiijiced, \\

^^^^ Y\ {

John L. DeAngelis, Jr., Esc
Re^. No. 30,622

Beusse Brownlee Wolter Moki\& ftfaire, P.A.
390 N. Orange Ave., Suite :
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 926-7710

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